I'm looking at picking up a high-end VCR (well two actually, VHS and Beta) And have been looking around the net to see what brands/models are recommended. Several sites I looked at said to go here for better answers. Then again that was mostly 10+ year old info. Anyways, I'm building a home theater/stereo system and I'd like to include as many media formats in it as possible. So pretty much anything you can think of is going into this, and I'd like to use as much high-end equipment as possible. I've got the disk based media figured out, but as far as VHS and Betamax I'm at a bit of a loss.
Here's what I've seen mentioned so far, does anyone have better recommendations? And I'm not looking to transfer anything, I just want the ability to play any media type I come across.
VHS
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JVC HR-S7600U, JVC HR-S7800U, JVC HR-S7900U
JVC HR-S8000U S-VHS
JVC-HR9500MS, JVC HR-S9600U, JVC HR-S9800U, JVC HR-S9900U, JVC HR-S9911U
JVC SR-V10U, JVC SR-V101US
panasonic AG-5260
Panasonic NV-FS200 (AG-1980)
MITSUBISHI HS-U80 S-VHS, HS-U70
Sony SLV1000
Toshiba M781, W808, W814, W818
Betamax
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Sony Super Betamax SL-HF1000 (a bit out of my price range though)
And for anyone interested, I went with a pioneer CLD-97 for my Laserdisc player ($30 at a local garage sale!).
However I noted that the CLD-92, CLD-704, CLD-79, CLD-99 CLD-96, and the LD-S2 are also great choices.
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Ah...a chance to reminisce..
The best Betamaxes were:
If you're willing to go into the stratosphere:
EDV-9500 (ED Beta)
EDV-7500 (ED Beta)
SL-HF-2100 (20th Anniversary Betamax)
Little more down to earth is the SL-HF900
If you're only looking to playback (likely), I found the SL-HF650 & SL-HF600 to be good playback machines. Anything lower SL-HF550. SL-HF450... didn't seem to be as good and the SL-HF860 (digital effects Betamax) I had, had a soft picture especially when digital processing was turned on. I never owned an SL-HF750, but that was supposed to have a good picture too.
Check out www.mrbetamax.com for more info and prices on machines.
As for Laserdisc players, your CLD-97 is considered to be up there with the best LD players. Congrats on getting for $30!
I can't remember the model off the top of my head, but there's a very late model Pioneer Elite player (might have only been released in Japan) that is reported to have the absolute best video, even cleaning up the chroma noise of bad LDs.
If you want a conversation piece, keep an eye out for a LD-W1. The picture quality isn't the best, but it's a two disc automatic changer. I still have mine and still smile when I hear it switch sides / discs!